Sag-hinge stay



(No Model.)

O. REINISOH.

BAG HINGE STAY.

No. 363,680. Patented May 24, 1887.

Big: 4

WITNESSES: pm INVENTORI Charles fieihqlsch BY ATT'YS N. PETERS Pn'olwmha m hcr. Washington. D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES REINISGH, OF NEIVAli-K, NE\V JERSEY.

BAG-HINGE STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,680, dated May 24, 1887.

Application filed January 7, 1887. Serial lie/293,652. (No model.)

T aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES REINIsOH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Hinge Stays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention is designed to provide a simply and cheaply constructed and an automatically and positively working bag-hinge stay, which, when the bag is opened and without any manipulation, will operate to hold the mouth of said bag open until released.

The invention is further designed to provide a stay which will not in its operation tend to injure or scratch the bag-frame or cause any inconvenience to the operator.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which similar letters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a plan of an opened bag-frame and of the hingestay in its holding position. Fig. 2 is a section through at, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a similarview, but,

indicating the relative position of the parts of the stay just after being released from their holding position. Fig. 4 is a similar section of the bag-framc,illustratin g the relation of the parts of said stay when the frame is closed. Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the catching-bar and the slotted holding-plate, and Fig.7 is a similar View of another form of catching-bar.

In said views, (1 indicates the catching-bar,

, which is pivotally attached to one of the framesition on the bag; and, further, said plate is provided with one or more stops so arranged that when the bag is opened to such a distance as to conveniently pack the same the said catching-bar enters automatically into holding engagement with said stops, and thereby maintains the open position of the bag until released. a

As constructed and illustrated in the draw-.

and are thus formed in separable parts to per mit the insertion of the end of said bar in the slot, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Instead of forming the holding-plate from two separable parts, it may be cast in one solid piece with the slot therein, as shown in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 7 is shown one form of bar that may be employed in connection with the solid plate, which is similar in form to the rectangular bar, but having one of the long sides thereof cut away, leaving on the end which is intended to engage with the holdingplate a straightbar, a, which may readily be inserted into the slot c and retained therein by bending up the end a. v

At the lower end of the slot 0 is formed a groove or shoulder, 0, into or against which the end of the catching-bar falls or strikes when the said bar is drawn down through said slot in opening the bag, and when thus placed holds the mouth of said bag open, as shown in Fig. 2. To release the stayin closing the bag, the catchingbar is simply lifted out of the groove, as indicated in Fig. 3, when the bag may be closed, the bar sliding up in the groove or slot'uutil it assumes the position shown in Fig. 4.

In lieu of a single groove or stop 0" on the bottom of the slot, a series of two or more stops or ratchets may be formed thereon, over which the bar slides as the bag is opened, stopping at any one of the said .ratchets, accord ing to the width to which the bag is to be opened.

To facilitate the upward sliding movement of the catchingbar, the slot 0 is preferably inclined, thereby preventing any jamming or catching of the bar. This inclination of the slot also thickens the metal at the lower end of the holding-plate, in which the groove or stop 0 may be formed without weakening the plate.

By means of the holding-plate, constructed as hereinbefore described, the catching-bar is caused to remain in such engagement with the saidplate that no obstruetion is offered to the opening of the bag, the catching-bar sliding freely up and down and dropping automatically into the holding or locking groove. The construction herein specified also avoids the use of springs, which are liable to break and become disarranged, and further increase the cost of the stay.

As the space between the opposite framesections when the bag is closed is very small,

it is necessary that the several parts of the hingestay shallbe very compactly constructed and arranged, so as to secure the requisite strength thereof, and at the same time permit the same to work freely. This is accomplished by forming the slot in the catching-plate in which the catching rod or bar moves in the side or sides of said plate, so that the thickness, and in consequence the strength, of the plate may be thereby greatly increased, occupying, if desirable, the entire space between the framesections when closed, as indicated in Fig. 4. Asthus constructed the catching-bar does not project above theplate, but outfrom the sides, as in Fig. 1, where there is ample room for the same. By this arrangement of the slot and the thickening of the plate it becomes possible to cut one or more stops or notches in the bottom of the said slot to receive the catching-bar without weakening said plate. In addition to these features of construction, another advantage is attained by forming the plate in two parts, in thata rectangular catchi ug-bar may be used, thus doubling the strength of the same by having two rods, instead of but one, extending over the hinge joint, and avoiding thereby theliability of any bending of said bar.

I am aware of patents numbered 121,786 and 167,809, in which are illustrated lid-supporting devices for trunks constructed and operating to prevent the trunk-lid from falling when opened, in one of which a curved slot is employed in a thin metallic plate, which is secured to and projects above the body of the trunk, and in the other of said devices a slot or opening is formed in the top of the plate secured to the lid, into which a T-shaped end of asupporting-rod enters. In said last-named device a groove to receive theT end of the vided with a slot formed in the top of said plate is disadvantageous, as the rod necessarily projects above the said plate, and thus occupies more room than is available between the framesections of the bag when closed. In

,my improved stay the slot is formed in and extends through from side to side of the plate, the top of the plate being solid and flat, with no upward projectiontherefrom. It will readily be understood; that the catching-groove may be formed in the upper part of the plate at the lower end of the slot, and the catching bar thrown up into said groove by a spring arranged beneath said bar, the bar being released from the groove by pressing the same downward.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a bag or satchel, the combinatiomwith the opposite frame sectionsthereof, of a bag hinge stay consisting of a rectangular catching-bar having an opening, a, and pivotally secured to one of said frame-sections on one side of the hinge orjoint thereof, and a catching-plate secured to the other of said framesections 011 the opposite side of said hinge, and consisting of separable portions 0 0, provided with an inclined slot, 0", therebetween, in which the end of said catchingbar moves, and is held in inseparable engagement when said stay is in operative position on the bag, said slot inclining upward and away from the frame as it approaches the bag-hinge, and provided with a catching-groove therein at the end nearest the bag-hinge, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a bag or satchel, the combination,with the opposite frame'sections thereof, of a baghinge stay consisting of a catching-plate secured to one of said frame-sections, adjacent to the joint or hinge thereof, and provided with a slot, 0, in the side or sides thereof, having a catching-groove, c, in the end nearest the bag-hinge, and acatching-bar pivotally secured to the other of said frame-sections on the opposite side of said hinge and entering said slot in the side of said catching-plate, and held in inseparable but sliding engagement with said slot, for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set'my hand this 31st day of December, 1886.

CHARLES REINISOH.

Vitnesses:

FREDK. F. CAMPBELL,- FREDK. O. FRAENTZEL.

ITO 

